महायान mahāyāna is the sanskrit, it literally means “great vehicle."
Mahayana Buddhism is one of the two major different types of Buddhism. Theravada and Mahayana. Mahayana originated in India and it is believed to have originally been linked with some of the oldest of the branches of buddhism called "Mahasamghika." Mahayana is the largest form of buddhism to date as it has 56% of Buddhists practicing, while Theravada has 38% and Vajrayana has 6%. The reason that Mahayana is so attractive and so widely followed by Buddhists is because of its diversity. It is the branch which is practiced by the "common folk" if you will. It is not only practiced by the religious leaders or the best of the best. It is practiced by everyone. This is one of the reasons it was so widely popular along the silk road, it was easily practiced and unlike many other religions it was also very accepting. For the people who wanted to practice the religion not to necessarily get it on a deep level, but not so that it was blown off.